Opal Jensen
Opal Jensen (1912 - 1990) was an American Bahá’í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to Reunion Island. She was named a Covenant-breaker as she supported Mason Remey's attempt to usurp control of the Bahá’í community and her husband later attempted to establish his own sect.
Biography[edit]
Jensen was born in 1912. In her youth she studied at the School for Drugless Physicians and became a qualified chiropractor and married fellow student Leland Jensen who was a Bahá’í.[1]
The Jensen's decided to pioneer to Reunion Island to achieve a goal of the Ten Year Crusade and Opal moved to the country in November 1953 with herhusbnd joining her in May 1954. She initially spoke no French and both she and her husband were not allowed to practice as chiropractors instead being supported financially by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. Through their efforts a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in St. Pierre in 1955 however as a result they were denied an extension on their visas in December.[1]
The Jensen's moved to Mauritius from Reunion for six months.[2] Her husband attempted to impose strict moral standards on the community resulting in disunity,[3] and they were asked to leave the country returning to the United States in February 1957.[4] They settled in Joplin, Missouri, after returning to America.[5]
In November 1957 Shoghi Effendi passed away without appointing anyone to succeed him as Guardian. The Hands of the Cause of God as a body signed a joint statement acknowledging that no successor had been appointed however in 1960 Mason Remey, who had signed the statement, attempted to claim that he was the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Jensen and her husband supported his claim and she was named a Covenant-breaker in 1960.[5]
In 1969 Jensen's husband was imprisoned for sexual misconduct,[2] and when he was released in 1973 he established his own group which rejected Mason Remey's authority which he called Bahá’ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant.[6] In 1979 her husband began making apocalyptic predictions and in 1980 he advised his followers to move to nuclear bunkers and in 1986 predicted Halley's Comet would collide with Earth.[2] Opal passed away in 1990.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London, 2017, p 129
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London, 2017, p 130
- ↑ Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 94
- ↑ Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 76
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 U.S. Supplement, No. 33, p 3
- ↑ Balch, Robert W. (1997) [Republished 2000]. "Fifteen Years of Failed Prophecy: Coping with Cognitive Dissonance in a Baha'i Sect". In Stone, Jon R. (ed.). Expecting Armageddon: Essential Readings in Failed Prophecy. New York: Routledge. pp. 269–282. ISBN 0-415-92331-X.
